Halifax Grammar School - Grammarian Yearbook (Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada)

Page 10 text:

Headmaster ' s Message It seems this annual is not only a chronology of events and an album of photos but also a book of familiar quotations. As I pondered on a greater meaning of learning, I decided I could not do better than repeat the words of William Cory, a master at Eton in 1861. At school you are not engaged so much in acquiring knowledge as in making mental efforts under criticism. A certain amount of knowledge you can indeed with average faculties acquire so as to retain; nor need you regret the hours that you spent on much that is forgotten; for the shadow of lost knowledge at least protects you from many illusions. But you go to a great school not for knowledge so much as for arts and habits; for the habit of attention, for the art of expression, for the art of entertaining quickly into another person ' s thoughts, for the habit of submitting to censure and refutation, for the habit of working out what is possible in a given time, for the habit of regarding minute points with accuracy, for taste, for mental courage and mental soberness. Above all, you go to a great school for self-knowledge. Perhaps some of you can better appreciate the greater relevance of your schooling and wonder less Why do we have to? To the graduate, a splendid and special lot, your school and your families have given you a greater opportunity for the arts and habits referred to. Think on them and use them well as you continue on your journey to self-knowledge. There is so much more to come. Mr. Dixon - Janitor Mrs. Tetrault - Secretary

Page 9 text:

Une pierre qui roule n ' amasse pas de mousse , mais ce qu ' elle amasse vaut plus que toute la mousse du monde. M. Masse nous quitte cette annee apres avoir enseigne le Francais et le Latin h H. G.S. pendant sept ans. Le portrait qui nous restera sera d ' un homme petit, barbe, habille d ' une cravate et une track-jacket : sa barbe represente sa sagesse et son intelligence classique; sa cravate indique sa paresse car il en apporte une parce qu ' il croit que ga cache le fait qu ' il ne s ' est pas rase le cou le matin; son track-jacket nous fait nous souvenir que, meme si au premier abord il semble faible, il et physiquement et mental- ement tres fort. Si la franchesse etait un peche il aurait ete condamne cent mille fois. Dans la classe de Francais il est toujours plein de vie. Jamais n ' est passe une classe de Frangais sans quelques explications en utilisant de la Russe, de I ' AUemand, du Latin, du Grec... Souvent il s ' arrete tout d ' un coup pendant un cours et demande aux etudiants. Est-ce que je vous ai raconte ' I ' histoire de .... Ca donne a I ' etudiant un choix difficile: s ' il dit que oui, le cours va continuer comme d ' habitude; mais s ' il dit que non, il va entendre I ' histoire pour la sixieme fois. M. Masse peut enseigner toutes sortes de litterature-de Molifere a Descartes. Son but, il dit souvent, est de donner aux paysans un peu de culture. En ceci il reussit, parce que M. Masse n ' est pas lache avec son temps et il emploie toutes les opportunites qui se presentent pour voyager. II dit qu ' il prefere le climat (ca veut dire le vin) europeen et la culture (la nourriture europeene). Son future n ' est pas encore decide, mais on est sur qu ' il trouvera toujours un chez lui. Michael Hawkins Ad unguem Factus homo ... ...Horace Once upon a time, long, long ago in 1972, the staff and students of H.G.S. became aware of a dark bat-like figure flitting in and out of the downstairs classrooms. This apparition, we soon discovered, was M. Gilles Masse, the new part- time French teacher in the Prep school. The following year M. Masse was made a full-time member of the staff and head of the French Department, so that he is by now a very familiar figure, and indeed something of an institution at H.G.S., though he has discarded the academic gown he used to wear and once, for a brief time, he shaved his beard and appeared among us incognito. Under M. Masse ' s fervent leadership and firm belief in academic excellence the French program has flourished and expanded to the point that we need more shelves in the library and larger quarters in the text book storage to house French books. He has also recently taken the teaching of Latin under his wing and has offered Greek to anyone willing to try an offer, alas, that many have been able to refuse. His love of languages has inspired him to take courses in German, Dutch, Portuguese, Syriac and Coptic; he has a wealth of background knowledge and a keen interest in music, drama, and painting which has enriched all his teaching. He has directed many successful dramatic productions, and initiated and originally organized the exchange between H.G.S. and the College d ' Assomption which is now recognized as the highlight of the Upper Five year. But it is not only for his academic and cultural contributions that we will remember him. M. Masse has devoted his time and talents to all aspects of life at H.G.S., being a homeroom teacher, helping with Reach for the Top, playing hockey and broomball, running an A.V.R. program, cooking for the Friday luncheon club, going camping and cycling with students. He has extolled the delights of rail travel to anyone who would listen, has entertained us with tales of his travels and has educated us with descriptions of his lives in a monastery and in a ballet school. M. Masse ' s departure will leave a gap that will be hard to fill. Wherever he goes and whatever he undertakes we assure him that he takes with him our affectionate good wishes for a prosperous and satisfying future. — 4 —

Page 11 text:

Staff Front Row: O. Scibior, A. Smith, L. Murray, M. Didier, K. Silver, R. Aterman, N. Scobbie Middle Row: A. von Maltzahn, I. Spencer, J. Lancaster, P. Montgomery, B. Faught, T. Brownlow Back Row: S. Lewis, L Andrews, G. Masse Absent: R. C. Keirstead, V. Kemp, K. DeGrasse, R. Naud, P. Smith